Rutherfordton
NC, the county seat
of
Rutherford County, was established in 1787, and is one of
the oldest towns in Western North Carolina. Both the county and the
town were named after General Griffith Rutherford, a popular Western
North Carolina politician and general during the Revolutionary War.
During that war the corps of Patriots known as the Over Mountain Men
marched through present-day Rutherfordton on their way to the Battle
of Kings Mountain. The Patriots defeated British troops under the command
of Maj. Patrick Ferguson on October 7, 1780.
Rutherfordton has managed to retain many of its
historic buildings, and the
downtown district is listed on the National Register of Historic
Places. Rutherfordton is home to the only remaining cluster of
antebellum houses and public structures in the southern foothills of
North Carolina. These include 1849 St. John's Church and 1932 "Holly
Hill" on North Main Street, the 1830's Bechtler family residence
on Sixth Street, the
Gothic-Revival Rucker-Eaves home (circa 1858-1870) on North
Washington Street and the Byrnum House on Sixth and North Washington
Streets.